Duterte approves ROTC for Grade 11 and 12

Duterte has given go signal to a law amendment that will make ROTC mandatory for Grades 11, 12.

MANILA - President Rody Duterte has approved on Tuesday the return of the Reserved Officers Training Course (ROTC) in Grades 11 and 12 of the country's public and private schools.

Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Manny Piñol revealed on a Facebook post that the approval by the President came after the Cabinet members discussed the issue thoroughly, following a presentation by Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana proposing an amendment to Republic Act 7077 to make ROTC mandatory.

Lorenzana said ROTC instills patriotism, love of country, moral and spiritual values, respect for human rights and adherence to Constitution.




This will now be forwarded to Congress and Senate and certified as urgent by President Duterte.

The implementation of the mandatory ROTC was stopped in 2001 following a series of scandals whick rocked the program, including the death of a Manila student due to hazing.

The strict implementation of the Anti-Hazing Law was among the measures presented to avoid the repeat of hazing deaths. [via Manny Piñol Facebook]